Top Advertising Statistics for 2021

Advertising is one of the most important fields for most commercial companies. The best part of advertising is it’s always changing because people change. Advertising is all about following people, and these past 2 years have been unprecedented for everyone.  

Certain areas of marketing have decreased while others have flourished with the pandemic. Below we look at the growth, trends, and major changes in the advertising industry.

12 Noteworthy Advertising Statistics for 2021

1. In 2020, 70% of all marketers focused their efforts on content marketing (HubSpot, 2020).

2. About 35% of marketers feel it’s integral to analyze the ROI of their campaigns (HubSpot, 2020).

3. In 2020, 52% of marketers relied on attribution reporting (HubSpot, 2020).

4. In 2020, over 75% of consumers participated in an internet activity that was new to them (Qualtrics, 2021).

5. It’s estimated 20% of marketers participated in email marketing automation for their campaigns throughout 2020 (HubSpot, 2020).

6. Ad revenue in 2020 fell to 578 billion USD worldwide, but the market expects 12% growth while recovering from the coronavirus (Statista, 2021). 

7. Digital Advertising is noted to grow by 15.4% for 2021, while print advertising like magazine ads is noted to decline (Statista, 2021).

8. One of the major advertisers on the Globe is Amazon after spending 11 billion on advertising and beating out Procter & Gamble, L’Oreal, and Samsung in 2019 (Statista, 2021).

9. In 2020, Video became the most commonly used format for content marketing, superseding blogs, and infographics (HubSpot, 2021). See our articles for creating a demo video and for optimizing SEO for video content.  

10. The 3 most online commerce uses that grew during the pandemic were video calls, grocery shopping, and online shopping. Video calling is expected to decrease as countries recover from the pandemic, but shopping and online entertainment expect to increase (Qualtrics, 2021).

11. Twitter is one of the most popular social platforms, and in 2020 ad revenue was 3.21 billion. In 2021, their ad participation grew by 6% (Statista, 2021).

12. Since 2020, 85.7% of marketers increased their focus on social media advertising (Statista, 2021).

News and Developments in the Industry for 2021

Global Advertising Platform Mediaocean Backed by Companies CVC, TA

In August 2021, the advertising giant Mediaocean announced investments from the companies CVC Capital Partners and TA Associates. Mediaocean manages over $200 billion in media spending for top companies around the world. With the added growth of funds, Mediaocean plans to focus on its omnichannel advertising platform. 

Mediaocean is a platform that aims to optimize the growth of its clients. Within the last year, they’ve acquired the companies 4C and Flashtalking, and use their resources to offer integrated tools and analytics to improve their client’s investments. They are definitely an enterprise to keep your eye on right now.

DoubleVerify Acquires OpenSlate for $150 million

In November 2021, DoubleVerify measurement company acquired OpenSlate, a media content analytics company. The combination of the companies will be used to offer services to improve the confidence of their client’s digital media investments. 

DoubleVerify wants companies to spend safely on ad campaigns they can track with campaign measurement services. The company acquired OpenSlate for its social media video and CTV advertising. DoubleVerify plans to expand in the growing market for online and commercial video.

This is a pretty important development, especially considering OpenSlate’s clients ran across over 30 global markets and included major brands like Coca-Cola, Facebook, and Pfizer. Those in the video advertising industry may be interested to follow this expanding monopoly on media management.  

Momentum Acquires ITSMA

In July 2021, Momentum acquired ITSMA for an undisclosed amount. Momentum is an AMB consulting company for major B2B marketers, while ITSMA is a research and training company. This merge of resources is meant to offer clients a wealth of thought leadership, research, and buyer insights. Momentum plans to use this acquisition to offer unique research, accreditation and consulting services in the B2B marketing landscape.

A company that can give training, as well as research and consulting, can be a powerful tool on the market. Momentum plans to grow its membership program by enticing companies with their insight into marketing.Momentum CEO, Alisha Lyndon boasted that even before the acquisition Momentum brought over $90 billion in revenue to members over the past 10 years.

Knak raises $25 million in series A funding

Knak is a SaaS platform that offers a campaign creation platform for marketers. They raised the money using Insight Partners, and are the first “codeless campaign creation platform.” Knak creates an interface where users can build their platform with just drag and drop methods. They also integrate with other major platforms such as Adobe Marketo Engage, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

Knak is going to use the money to maximize their team, and brand awareness. They plan to spread awareness about the services for enterprises building landing pages, and email campaigns. They can be a great rising software for teams without coding experience that need a branded online presence. 

Advertising Trends and Changes to Watch In 2021-2022

News Ways to Target Your Audience

Audience segmentation is an important part of advertising on social media platforms. Platforms like Facebook can have a much wider audience than some marketers realize, especially with its connection to Instagram.

A new platform for targeting audiences on Facebook and Instagram claims to offer over 95,000 demographics to choose from. This can open markets for those that have never considered either platform for their demographic. 

This information could prove powerful for enterprises of all sizes. Facebook and Instagram together reach a wide range of demographics, including Baby Boomers and Gen Z. Marketers that may find their exact niche sifting through that range.

Audience Kitchen is a new tool from Ad Bacon, a virtual company that specializes in ad campaigns. The tool Audience Kitchen is essentially a platform where marketers can pick out specific demographics on Instagram and Facebook. It’s meant to be especially helpful for targeting small, or difficult-to-reach audiences. 

New Innovative Collaboration and Discussion After Pandemic

Some could say things are going back to ‘normal’ as efforts for networking and strategizing increase to help recover. As noted in the statistics section above, there was a loss in Ad revenue from the pandemic, but as recovery begins it’s expected to grow fast. It makes sense businesses are getting ready to hit the ground running. 

Educated discussion about new tech and strategies is a big focus after the pandemic. There are quite a few changes, opportunities, and obstacles to go over. Hopefully, new software and developments circulated in the discussions can bring growth and innovation. 

One noted discussion was in November 2021, Media 7 and Roar organized the annual marketing expo for exploring major software, trends, and developments in marketing. The event was in person, in London, UK, and had public and private enterprises attend. 

Marketing Tactics That Are Overripe

Square2Marketing details marketing tactics that are ready to go in the bin–and for good reason. Since the pandemic, it’s become clear–you need to be ready for change.

Some of the strategies they mention are obvious like print ads. The cost just isn’t worth the return. Other outdated strategies are lesser-known, like marketing your business blog. Many companies just have their blog as a complimentary resource and may not think about posting on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. Your article about product demos could lead people to your video software, or other related product. 

Then there’s automated social media marketing, using say Hootsuite or Later for posts you wrote weeks ago. If your only social media is prescheduled posts that talk about your company, consumers may lose interest. 

It can be more helpful to talk about current events or write about helpful tips. Your social media itself should be entertaining, and less robotic. That way you can give the illusion of a personality and build trust. As generations change, it’s important to think about how to stay relevant, and what to get rid of. 

Advertising on Social Media Platforms in 2021

A report delivers on the top social media channels for marketing, and it’s not surprising that TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram are at the top of the list. Influencer and video ads are also growing as forms of ad content. 

As the advertising industry changes, there are important questions like when do you innovate and when do you stop following other people’s examples? Then there’s the struggle of making room for new demographics as yours gets older. 

Many established firms struggle to authentically advertise on a young platform like TikTok. This is also why influencer marketing becomes so appealing–letting the youth market to youth while you take a backseat. Whatever the case, it’s important to watch out for new and unique tactics.

Tech Marketing Startups That are Experiencing Hiring Growth

AngelList comprised a feature list of marketing startups with enough success to be actively hiring. These companies specifically make B2B software. They can specialize in SEO, customer service, or retail brands. The list totals 11 and can be a great way to look at competitors or find new tools, or innovation to inspire. 

Popular Advertising Platforms for 2021

Software	trScore	Starting Price	Free Trial	Free or Freemium	Premium Setup
Google Ads	8.0/10	You set your own budget.
Facebook Ads	10/10	You set your own budget.
LinkedIn Ads	N/A	You need to use their bidding calculator for an estimate.
Twitter Ads	7.5/10	You set your own budget.
Amazon Ads	8.9/10	You set your own budget.

Sources

• The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics for 2021 (HubSpot, 2021,)
• Advertising media owners revenue worldwide (Statista, 2021)
• Growth of advertising media owners revenue worldwide (Statista, 2021)
• Increased reliance on selected content marketing channels (Statista, 2021)
• Year on year change in ad engagement on Twitter (Statista, 2021)
• Customer-Experience-Trends-2021-Report.pdf (Qualtrics,2021)